Link to Jaltomata home page
The information on this page may be cited as a communication with professor Thomas Mione, Central Connecticut State University,
Biology Department, Copernicus Hall, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT 06050-4010

Red nectar shows through the corolla tube.	Both photos by Mione, accession 432.

Jaltomata umbellata (Ruiz López & Pavón) Mione & M. Nee

Atropa umbellata Ruiz López & Pavón, Fl. Peruv. 2: 44, plate181, fig. a. 1799. Type: PERU. Chancay, Limae et Lurin, Dombey s.n. (LECTOTYPE: P!). Hebecladus umbellatus (Ruiz López & Pavón) Miers, London J. Bot. 4: 322. 1845.

Hebecladus turneri Miers, London J. Bot. 4: 323. 1845. TYPE: Without locality, evidently from a cultivated specimen fide Miers, D. Turner s.n. (HOLOTYPE: K!).

Shrub to 1 m. Axes and abaxial face of calyx bearing both gland-tipped finger hairs and shorter, non-glandular dendritic hairs interspersed among each other. Leaf blades typically entire; ovate, the apex acute; less than 11 cm long and 8 cm wide. Inflorescence 4-9 flowered. Peduncle 4.5-11 mm long. Pedicel 6-9 mm long; with dense gland-tipped finger hairs. Lobes of calyx and corolla triangular to narrowly triangular. Flowering calyx 8-9 mm diam.; lobe radius 4-5 mm long; sinus radius 2 mm long. Corolla tubular with a broad limb. Corolla tube 6.5-8 mm long; partially to nearly completely filled with red nectar on living material. Corolla limb rotate to campanulate; cream or pale-green; 14-23 mm diam.; remaining open at night. Stamens (including expanded base) 9.2-10.9 mm long; exserted from corolla up to 7 mm. Filaments, slender part with a few to several finger trichomes to 0.5 mm long on basal 1/4-1/3 of the length. Anthers, undehisced 1.9-2.1 mm long X 1.4-1.5 mm wide; dehisced 1.2-1.3 mm long. Style 8-13.3 mm long. Stigma exerted beyond anthers up to 8 mm but sometimes not exerted; overhead dimensions 0.46-0.56 mm by 0.4-0.46 mm; often protruding through the otherwise closed corolla prior to anthesis. Ovules 70-78 per ovary. Fruiting calyx-lobe radius 6-8 mm. Mature berry orange in greenhouse. Seed (field collected) 1.36-1.48 mm long. Chromosome number 2n = 24 (Diers, 1961); n = 12 (this study, meiosis of anthers from plants from seeds of Chavez s.n.). Description based on living plants of Chavez s.n., provided by R. Chavez and T. Davis IV.

Peru, Department of Lima, endemic to lomas formations, 300-500 m.

Local name and uses: none mentioned on herbarium specimens.

Specimens examined: Peru. Department of Lima:
1) Lurin (or is it "Lurín"?), type locality. The book "Travels of Ruiz Pavón and Dombey in Peru & Chile" also mentions this species growing in Lurin.
2) Province Chancay, Lomas of Lachay, ca 105 km N of Lima on PanAm Hwy, 300-500 m
a) M. O. Dillon et al. 3626 (BH, NY)
b) S. Leiva, T. Mione & L. Yacher 2131 = Mione et al. 623 (F, HAO)
c) Sandy hills of Lachay-Lima, dry and hot desert, R. Chavez s.n. (the photo above was taken of plants grown from seeds of this collection; field-collected voucher not seen)
d) 11 20' S, 77 30' W, Al Gentry et al. 74517 (NY), 400 m.
3) Atacongo Lomas, in the sheltered loam pockets, 32 km S of Lima, 8 km east of Pachacamac Ruins, not common here, 400 m, H. E. Stork et al. 9294 (GH, K);
4) Hills of San Agustin (Loma-Formation), 350 m, A. Weberbauer 5223 (GH, NY) [Bitter describes this locality as "Mountain range of S. Augusta, between stone debris in Loma formation"]; and same locality A. Weberbauer 5228 (GH);
5 Very near Lima
a) handwriting unreadable, this specimens seems to have been collected near Lima, this specimens reads "Campagne de la Magicienne" (K)
b) Amancaes, according to a specimen at K and Miers (1850)

Seed Germination: Seeds germinated in only 9 days after being stored in the refrigerator for about 15 years! These seeds were planted in cups of moist potting mix on a sunny window sill on 14Apr07 and the first seed germinating was noted on 23Apr07. To get seeds to germinate I kept them moist (nearly wet for the first few days) constantly and used a plug-in mat that provides mild heat underneath the cup. The 2007 seeds were collected from three different plants grown from the original seeds, planted as follows.
In 1989 seeds germinated in 14 days. These seeds were planted on 13Aug1989 and the first seed geminating was noted on 27Aug1989. At this writing (2007) I can't recall exactly how I germinated seeds back then, but I don't think I used a heat mat underneath, and the seeds were probably in a mist room until they germinated. My seeds per fruit data for this species is dated March 1992, so the 2007 seeds that germinated were very likely from the seeds counted in March of 1992.

Seedling Hairs: 100% perfectly straight, unbranched, uniseriate, droplet-tipped (gland-tipped), clear (unpigmented). Length highly variable, from 0.06 mm long to 3.04 mm long. If I look at the hairs with a dissecting scope, and touch something to the tip of the hair while looking, I can see that the substsance at the tip of the hair is viscous. Observations made 5 May 2007.

Literature Cited

Photos by Mione of specimens borrowed from and then returned to P.

Acknowledgements: Sandra Ek taught me how to grow, and helped care for, the plants shown in the top two photos (1989 and the early 1990s). Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello provided the environment conducive to the birth of this project. Rene Chavez sent to Tilton Davis IV seeds of J. umbellata and T. Davis generously passed the seeds on to me, and these were grown, allowing the top two photos.